Retire Now

After reading the thoughts and advice of the police officers who have written on this blog, it is obvious that some of you guys think you're the center of the world and everyone else can go to hell. Putting things in perspective, the average sworn police officer in NMB has over $50,000 per year contributed to their pension plan by the taxpayers who you state can "deal with the savages" themselves. Further breaking down the 50k, that means each and every one of you is costing the taxpayers almost $25 an hour for each hour you are on the job just in pension costs. Of course that doesn't include your average $80k annual compensation , 100k for sergeants of course, or your $30,000 take home police cars, complete with maintenance, insurance, and fuel.
And lets not make the taxpayers aware of your biggest dirty little secret, the DROP plan where you can collect double paychecks for up to 8 years and get guaranteed high interest on the money banked paid for by the very same taxpayers you so despize. The problem is you guys worked in lock-step with the former greedy *******s that were elected to run the City responsibly and failed to do so. They made payoffs to you guys in the form of ultra high wages and pension contributions so that you would support them at election time. The citizens of the city really cannot afford you guys anymore. And now its come home to roost when the real estate tax revenue in NMB has fallen almost 21% ,you guys think that the taxpayers should continue to fund your outrageous pensions and DROP plans...and most of you don't live in the City that you call East Opa Locka. Maybe it loos that way because after paying out the high salary and pension costs to you guys, there's nothing left in the till to make any improvements in the City.
i really wish you all would boycott the guardhouse and your patrol jobs as well so the city can hire some new police officers fresh out of the academy who haven't been corrupted by the fat and lazy ass wastes of taxpayer funds like some of you are. These same new recruits will have ambition and a sense of duty that a lot of you guys lost a long time ago, While you guys are "blue fluing" it out sick, i'll feel much safer with my concealed weapons permit knowing that I didn't have to call you guys to show up after the fact anyway. Its not the City Councils fault nor is it the taxpayers of the City's fault that there is a 21% reduction in tax revenue. When are you guys going to step up to the plate and realize how good you really have it instead of whining like a bunch of babies who aren't getting their way. Try "Manning Up" for a change. The party is over.

I don't think I am the center of the world....but in fact believe I am part of a team. A team I agreed to work for with decent pay and BENEFITS such as insurance and retirement. I came to this city with a plan to work until retirement. No 401K that I can transfer around every time I got bored in my job or just wanted to change careers, no moving to get a change of scenery or to be closer to family. When I signed up for this job I had an obligation and so too did the city. I worked this job for 25 years and at the end got a decent retirement. Not a retirement that would sit me fat and happy on an ocean front house with a Range Rover in my driveway, but a decent pension. This of course does not come for free. For starters I pay 11% of MY WEEKLY PAYCHECK towards MY PENSION. Compare this to Metro Dade who pays ZERO. This of course is nothing compared to the other costs. These however cannot be measured in dollars. Holidays lost, birthdays lost, weekends with the family missed out on because this is NOT a 9 to 5 job but 24 hrs a day 7 days a week. During Hurricanes most of us have to secure our homes and families and then LEAVE to work our jobs. So when you go through a storm such as Hurricane Andrew, be glad that you can have the peace of mind to know that you will be with your family to ensure their safety. Many of us have to be reassured of this until phone service is gone. As far as living in the city it's really quite simple. When I arrest someone it's usually in the City....that would mean that this person frequents or lives in the City. So on my days off, when I am out with my children and family, I have to worry about a run in with some dirt bag that I arrested?? This City isn’t Mayberry...Would you put your family in a harm’s way? But "Raimondo" there is more to this “party”….. costs that would probably never translate to paper that you would understand. Have you ever stopped a vehicle knowing the occupants were armed and just did a drive by shooting with an AK47, and as you take them into custody worry about getting home to your family, protecting the officers that you are with and worrying about the Monday morning quarterbacks who will analyze everything you did? Have you ever pulled up on an accident scene with multiple bodies ejected and had to find victim’s some barely alive with limbs ripped from their bodies? Imagine being responsible to tell a mother that her only son has been murdered, to find a child floating dead in a canal as disappointed searchers realize they could not save her. Have you ever smelled death? Seen death? Have you ever experienced the joys of having children and within months of that had to handle the death of an infant close to the age of your healthy baby. To be with the family as they realize their child is gone and then witness the autopsy and see the baby dissected like a frog in science class. Have you ever had to stand inside of a home for hours during an investigation with a body that is so decomposed that it has melted to liquid? That smell not only stays in your clothes, but the smell of death stay in your memory. These things take a toll on Police officers, but this is what we signed up for so we “MAN UP” every day we come to work because this is what we do.
30,000 for a car? I appreciate a take home care, but that is a car I drive to and from work. When I am off, I have to use my own car. This means that I have a car payment, and insurance payments just like you!
Our pay is negotiated with a contract, which this year we agreed to take NO RAISES for 3 years and leave everything status quo. We also agreed to pay for the “$30,000 car”, but this was not good enough. Yes you are right that in the past we have had a council that supported the police department. In turn Morale was high. When we now have a council who makes statements such as, “no one asked you to become police officers” or “we can get people to come in and become a police officer for $50,000 a year. Sometimes the lowest price is not the best and you will get what you pay for. And the “dirty little secret” is comical! A secret…..are you kidding me. Look at city wide the employees that have retired, but then stayed on as consultants getting paid to do the same job so there expertise is passed on. This was to keep senior people around to mentor the young. And find someone who would stay for 8 years with the current environment. But “Raimondo” it’s not the tax payers we DESPISE, but the uneducated insensible people who threaten to take away the very benefits we work for.
But don’t worry because we won’t boycott the guardhouse or suffer the “blue flu” like you dream of. We won’t do this because we have a job to do. Maybe instead of hating on us you should call 305-948-2921 and get an application. With all the benefits listed above you too can MAN UP AND JOIN THE PARTY if you can handle it……

Syphlis, John, Barbara, and Beth please stay of our site.

Maybe when you you get kicked off your throne we can talk some more. Until then GFY's.

signed-
Irreparable, Honorable, Magnificent, Undefeated, the Doc, the Magician

No the party starts tuesday at 4:30. See you there stupid.

There will not be a party Tuesday, the council will do what they think is financially best for the city and that will be to take control of the pension board and reduce future huge payouts on pensions, the day of golden retirement are over for a long time. I am sure they will limit the amount of overtime that can be applied to future pensions along with reducing the 3% multiplier and make people work 30 years before they can retire. The 16 year retirement with the purchase of 4 years is all but gone.

I believe you need to take JW's Ghost advice and that is retire now if you can because in a few months that oppurtunity will be gone and you are going to have to work a long time in a sh!t hole. :cry:

i agree with partyboy except you don't have to work in a shithole, you can quit and move on to somewhere else....why put up with citizens and City Council members expecting you to do your jobs, like actually patrolling the streets looking for bad guys or being a deterent to crime. You can bet your ass that all cities will be reducing the egregious salaries and pensions that most police and fire have made the past ten years or so. There is no more money availabe to fund the "party". When police officers and firemen milk the overtime to ensure they can fatten up their already high pensions, there is no difference to the taxpayers in who is stealing their money. The two-bit "savages" as you call them break into your home and steal your valuables while you guys milking the overtime and pensions are doing the same thing. When a taxpayer has to pay a huge property tax bill to fund your greed, the taxpayer ends up being robbed by those sworn to protect and serve. Like Ramundo put it so well, the taxpayyers are paying almost $25 an hour for every hour an NMB police officer is on duty just to fund his pension. Thats way over the top anywhere. I do understand the hazards of your profession and I do appreciate your service. However, they are way down on the list of the most hazardous professions in this country. When you compare your traffic stops, traffic accidents and dead bodies you experience to the hazards of other professions like offshore oil workers, high rise construction workers, electric linemen, miners, crane operators, and underground contractors, i don't quite get what all the hoopla is about that makes your careers so much more critical that the taxpayers have to pay to the max for your services. I equate the same criticality to the FPL linemen who go out in storms and get my power back up a running as quickly as possible so you guys don't have a lock on emergency services. Instead of head-butting the City Council, why don't you brilliant, magnificient, and whatever else you call yourselves come up with just where the Council can find the 21% of property taxes that the city won't be taking in? i also read that you guys offered to pay 11 cents a mile to drive your take home cars too and from your homes. Instead, why don't you guys buy the cars, pay for the insurance, gas and maintenace and let the City pay you 11 cents a mile for all the miles you drive it on the job? Don't sound too good does it? Neither does your offer to pay 11 cents a mile sound good to the taxpayers either.

I can hardley believe my eyes after reading the previous post. You actually believe that there is a comparison between a police officer and an fpl worker? Did you know that all the proffessions you decided to compare with the police at one time were being offered over 100,0000 to go to Iraq to help rebuild? Why? Because the government knew that they would be placing their lives on the line while they were there. Kind of like what a police officer goes through everyday of their career. Comparing the guy that gives you electricity after a storm to the day to day life of a police officer is not only naive but insulting. Exactly how much is a police officers life worth? You obviously think the oil rigger who gives you your gas to drive your car is worth as much as the police officer who gets spit on, cussed at, punched, hit and sometimes killed trying to protect and catch the people who jeaprodize YOUR safety. So go ahead and lower their benefits and pay. But before you do, you need to research history. Flashback to the 60's, where the only criteria for being a police officer was to be large and strong and aggressive. Pay was comparable to ditch diggers and most manual labor jobs that required nothing but strength. The officers entire job at that time was to keep the peace by beating people into submission. Education was not required. Flashback to the 80's. Metro dade PD lowers their hiring criteria due to the lack of pay and lack of people willing to risk their lives for such low pay. Here comes the River Cops. Flashback to Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans cops leave their post, some are caught stealing, only a few remain to try and take care of the city. Now check to see what their pay was. New orleans was well known for being one of the lowest paid officers in the United States for dealing with such a troubling city. What you are not understanding is that when you lower benefits and pay for a job that requires intelligence, morality and courage, you will get what you pay for. Hope NMB can handle it.

Partyisover GO FU#@ YOURSELF. You claim to appreciate our service and then spend the rest of your pathetic post trashing us like the typical ignorant citizen you are. What overtime are we milking? There is no overtime to milk stupid. Overtime is a crime around here so please don't speak of issues that you are ignorant about which is every issue you brought up. Why don't you go talk to the two Tampa officers familys and see if they agree with your comparison of us with fpl workers. Talk to the wife who delivered a baby two hours after her husband was shot and killed or to the other officers 4 young sons who will never see their dad again. Your a coward and a hypacrit so just as this post began its gonna end. Go FU#@ YOURSELF COWARD.

I'm sorry I just had to ask the coward partyisover a couple more things. How are we stealing from you cowards when we pay 11.1 percent of our paychecks into the pension which the real thieves at city call couldn't properly manage which is what is truely causing ALL of the problems now. They now want to back out of their obligation to fix what they nearly destroyed. Well guess what we're not gonna let that happen. You people think we're gonna be rich from our "already high" pensions. You truly are a sad individual who should turn your pathetic ranting in the right direction:CITY HALL. Why don't you speak in front of the council like we do? You'd rather be a coward and put ignorant posts on this site instead of "manning up" like your just as cowardly friend stated. Tell the council your concerns at least that guy from ES had the guts to get up there and agree with the council in front of us. Sorry but the party is not over like I said it starts tomorrow at 4:30 see you there.

Well you can waste your time protesting and everyone can get there 3 minutes speaking and keep the council meeting going until 3am, but it will not matter and I will not waste my time. The council is set on this issue and there is nothing that will change there minds. Get ready to work for 30 years with a 2% multiplier. Unfortunately the prior council did not fund the pension when they had the funds, but there is no turning back the clock and the current council unfortunately did inherit a bad situation. They feel they are doing what is neccessary to control future cost and protect the future pensions of everyone.
I fortunately am retired and most likely will not be too affected by this, but even if I am it is just part of the economic times and will not blame this city council for the previous city councils and city managers mismanagement (Roberto,Mischcon, Marin, Defillipo ETC ETC).